born to die
by flowersandswords
Summary: When war breaks out, the very last thing Sakura wants to do is fall in love with Konoha's most notorious playboy but he's not what she thought. Sasuke's seventeen, safe from the draft, from the hands of war or so they think. Never fall in love with someone who's born to die, they're never as invincible as we want them to be. -Sasuke/Sakura
1. Chapter 1

disclaimer: disclaimed

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_Run._

Sasuke ran as fast as his feet would carry him, a burning sensation crawled up his legs, spreading like wild fire, like venom from the fangs of a snake. With his mouth dry and his hands clenched tightly, he thought of nothing but getting the _fuck_ away from the enemy.

He knew his father would be rolling in his grave right about now. An Uchiha running away from a battle? It was unheard of. His family was not made up of cowards; valor was in their blood, running through their veins.

Sure, Sasuke was brave and cocky as hell when his pistol was fully loaded but he was out of ammo, out of luck and out of a damn squad to back him up. Everyone's gone, bullets lodged in their brains and he's the only one left to run like hell.

He could hear the bullets fly past him, slicing through the wind, shrill in his ears, a breath away from knocking him down, dead and cold.

They aimed to kill him. Of course they did. It was a war after all.

_Run faster you fucking idiot, _he screamed at himself.

_Run faster, faster, faster _because he felt the enemy behind him, their eyes like daggers in his back and to hell with his pride, to hell with his family's name, he wanted to _live_.

He could feel the blood pulsing into his veins, painfully loud in his ears. He could feel his heart explode with each beat, pounding against his ribs. His breathing was shallow, scorching like his lungs were set on fire and he was choking on the smoke.

In a desperate attempt to conceal himself, to buy himself some time, he jumped into nearby shrubbery. The cracking of their footsteps and the mangled language of the enemy was vibrating behind him. There was no time to think, no time to catch his breath.

He felt it before he saw it.

A pain, sharp, like nothing he's ever felt before.

The metal bullet spun its way at him, tearing through layers of pale skin and the thick muscle of his shoulder.

Before he could even panic, before he could even scream, the second one came, faster than the first, cleaving through his bicep, hitting bone. There was a cracking sound, crumbling like a fallen city. He could hear it, loud and clear.

Black spots crowded his vision; a sick feeling churned in his stomach.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

Sasuke could feel the weight of his blood, the warm, wetness of it soak his whole body. He could smell it, taste it on his tongue, a bitter metallic tang that spread down his throat. He could feel himself falling.

And how funny, he thinks. That the very last thing he hears before he collapses is,

"I'll always love you Sasuke"

And _shit._

It hurts more than the gaping holes in his shoulder.

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><p>one year earlier<p>

june 2nd

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><p>Sakura looked around the party, green eyes glinting with annoyance.<p>

The whole place reeked of alcohol, she suspected that someone had spilt it on the carpet and had just _conveniently_ forgotten to clean it up. Thick cigarette smoke swirled through the air, hanging like fog. And of course, with every house party came the large crowd of people. The foul mix of their perfumes intertwined, burning her nose whenever she breathed in.

It was _too_ crowded. Naruto's parties usually were, but this particular, first-day-of-summer party was exceptionally packed.

Drunken boys had lingering hands, their bodies, covered in thin layers of sweat, pressed against her. With a roll of her eyes and a mockingly polite, _excuse me, _she fled from the crowd. She felt like she was going to suffocate as she pushed past a sea of unfamiliar people. There was an open window to the right of the kitchen; a cool breeze blew as she stumbled to it.

Sakura was going to _murder_ Ino, her best friend since childhood. The very same girl that forced her out to this party and then left her to go make out with Shikamaru.

"C'mon, Sakura! You're young," Ino had said only hours before, adjusting her breasts in her skin tight dress, "Stop acting like my grandmother." She had flashed her most persuasive smile, red lips curled over white teeth and with a groan, Sakura agreed to tag along.

But _this _was not part of the plan. Sakura wasn't supposed to be sticking her head out of a window, pink hair glued to the nape of her neck with sweat, looking like a complete idiot. Wherever Ino Yamanka was, she was as good as dead.

"What are you doing?" a deep voice suddenly asked from behind her.

Sakura turned around swiftly, only to be greeted by the one and only Sasuke Uchiha. He was all dark hair, dark eyes, a twinge of a wicked smile on his lips. The kind of boy every girl swooned over, and _oh _they did.

The whole town knew Sasuke Uchiha or at least they _wished_ they did; he was some sort of celebrity in their little village. His ancestors were all war heroes and his father, Fugaku Uchiha, was captain of the Konoha Military Police Force. The Uchiha's were wealthy, respectful and infamously attractive people. Ino had once said that the Uchiha's must've made some kind of deal with the devil in order to be _that_ good-looking. Other than his family name, Sasuke was notorious for kissing _every_ girl in the senior class, except for Sakura, of course. Maybe it was a rumor, maybe not. Either way, she could care less who Sasuke Uchiha kissed.

"I was just getting some air." She replied loudly. The music boomed through the house, vibrating in her ears, so deafening, she could barely hear herself think. Yet another reason she detested parties like these.

Sasuke nodded, taking a swig of the beer in his hand, "You're Ino's friend, Sakura, right?"

"Yeah." She said flatly and this wasn't the first time that a boy had referred to her as, _Ino's friend_. It'd been happening since they were in grade school but it hardly bothered her anymore. Sakura thought men were an utter waste of time anyway, her father was a prime example but _that_ was another story.

"I don't usually see you at Naruto's parties." He observed; his voice was impossibly smooth,_ too_ smooth. Seriously, who talked like that?

Sakura pushed her hair behind her ear, "That's because I usually don't go."

Scratch that, she _never_ went because Naruto's parties always got out of hand. Everyone usually got drunk off their asses, the cops were called by aggravated neighbors and half of Konoha High School's senior class was in handcuffs.

And for whatever reason, her response made him laugh. It was deep and throaty, just like she imagined it would sound.

As he laughed, she could see the soft, pale landscape of his neck, a reddish hickey marred his skin. It was a fresh love bite that he didn't care to hide. Sakura scoffed, rolled her eyes, tried look anywhere but his neck.

Sasuke caught her though. His dark eyes followed hers, saw what she was staring at and gave a smirk. His lips parted to say something but before he could utter a word, slender arms wrapped around his waist.

"Sasuke" A pretty girl purred from behind him, pressing her fingers into his chest, "I've been looking for you all night." Her honey colored hair fell past her breasts, straight and shiny. She had dark eyes, sensual like a vixen, legs practically longer than Sakura's whole body. The girl stepped out from behind Sasuke, hands on her slim hips, eyeing Sakura up and down.

Sakura stared straight back at her with a dull expression; she didn't have the energy to deal with one of Sasuke's obsessive flings.

"Hana, I'm busy." Sasuke grumbled indifferently, he didn't even bother to glance at her. The girl, Hana, had a permanent pout on her face as she tugged on the hem of Sasuke's shirt.

_Was this the girl who gave him the hickey? _Sakura thought, her nose wrinkled in disgust. It was incredibly awkward standing there, arms crossed over her chest, watching Hana grip onto Sasuke like her life depended on it. She wanted nothing more than to get away from Sasuke Uchiha and his obvious fling, so in attempt to escape she gave a quick, fake smile and pushed her way past them.

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair as walked away, green eyes searching for her stupid, probably wasted, friend.

_I'm going to kill her; I swear to God I'm going to kill—_

A warm hand curled around her shoulder, too big to be Ino's, "I've been calling your name." but just the right size to be Sasuke's.

He hadn't ever spoken a single word to her before, why was he so eager to now?

Sakura turned around; pale pink eyebrows rose at the smile on his lips, "The music's too loud," She yelled over the booming stereo, "I didn't hear you." Sakura looked past him, wondering where his latest fling had run off to, moreover how Sasuke tore her off of him.

"Are you looking for someone?" Sasuke asked, taking a step closer to her.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, I'm looking for Ino actually."

"She was outside with Shikamaru the last time I saw her." He flashed her yet another smile, his teeth were ridiculously straight, a blinding white like a movie star. Did he have _any_ flaws?

_God_, he made her sick.

"Thanks," She smiled, "Well, I'm going to go find her." Sakura turned away from him before he could say anything else, pushing through the crowd of drunken boys and girls. She was halfway out the front door when Sasuke yelled her name. _Just ignore him, Sakura_._ Just keep walking, he'll go away._

But he didn't.

"Wait." He put his hand on her shoulder again and it burned like fire, heavy like a weight, she shrugged him off.

"What?" She asked him impatiently.

"I want to take you out."

Wait, what? The great Sasuke Uchiha wanted to take her out? She would've laughed if she weren't so damn shocked.

"Is this a joke?" She asked; her green eyes widened with suspicion.

"No. I'm being serious."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, "You don't even know me." She said the words slowly, hoping he'd realize he was making a mistake and that she wanted absolutely _nothing_ to do with him. Boys like Sasuke Uchiha were nothing but trouble; she knew that, the whole village knew that. There's no way in hell she'd end up like her mother, heartbroken and alone. She didn't need Sasuke Uchiha pretending to like her; she wasn't going to let anyone, especially him, screw her over.

Sasuke laughed, deep and throaty, full of wicked charm; the sound filled her ears, louder than music booming in the house, "Well that's sort of the point of taking you out, sweetheart," He leaned in closer, "I'd like to get to know you."

She stared at him, studied his handsome face, a sigh of exasperation pushed through her lips, "No thanks."

"Oh c'mon, let me take you out," He smiled again and Sakura wondered how many girls fell for that same smile, "I'll buy you a drink—"

"I don't drink."

Her shoes clicked on the pavement as she started to walk away. Within seconds she could hear Sasuke's shoes tap along with hers, he walked fast, tried to match her pace. _This is ridiculous _she thought. Never in her whole life did she think she'd be pursued by Konoha most notorious playboy.

"Fine," Sasuke called, barely an inch behind her, "I'll buy us a pack of smokes and we can share them, get to know each other better."

_Why the hell is he being so persistent?_ Sakura pondered. Sasuke Uchiha could have any girl he wanted, they practically threw themselves at his damn feet, yet here he was, following Sakura Haruno around like a love sick puppy dog, annoying the hell out of her.

"I don't smoke." She responded flatly, her eyes scanned the house's front lawn, in search of Ino's long blonde ponytail.

The husky sound of Sasuke's laughter filled her ears for the millionth time that night, "Goddamn, is there anything _else_ you don't do?"

And with her hands on her hips she turned around to face him, "As a matter of fact, _yes, _there is. I don't stick around to listen to jerks, like you, talk out of their asses. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find Ino."

Sakura turned on her heel, walked away, the cool summer breeze blew through her hair, pinched at her bare skin. It was 11:00 at night, school was out for good, summer was starting and Sasuke Uchiha was right behind her, hands stuffed in his pockets like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Sakura Haruno." He yelled her name, tasted it on his tongue like a freshly lit cigarette, "I think I might like you."

Sakura let out a laugh, soft and quiet from the back of her throat, "Don't worry." She called, looking over her shoulder, a faint trace of a smirk on her lips, "You'll get over it."

Of course he would. Sasuke Uchiha didn't waste time on simple girls that didn't flush at the sight of him. It hurt his egotistical pride way too much. He'd saunter back to the house party, snap his fingers and have a new girl, prettier than Sakura at his side.

That's just how it worked.

Sakura sighed as the distant music started to explode from the house's open windows. No doubt, the cops would be called shortly; she was surprised that they weren't called sooner.

"Hey, Forehead." She could feel the sharp poke of Ino's fake nails suddenly press into the middle of her back, "Did I just see you talking to Sasuke Uchiha or am I really fuckin' wasted?"

Sakura rolled her green eyes up to the night sky, completely ignoring the question, "Ino, I've been looking for you all night, where the hell have you been?"

Ino narrowed her blue eyes at her best friend, "Did something happen? Why aren't you answering my question?"

What was she supposed to say? Sasuke Uchiha wanted to take her out, offered to buy her drinks and smokes and that she turned him down every time.

"It's a long story." She replied grabbing her best friend's skinny wrist, "C'mon lets go home."

"Wait a minute," Ino said, a wicked smile crept up onto her shiny red lips, "Do you _like_ Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sakura scoffed, she didn't even have to think about it.

"Not even a little."

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><p><strong>an:** i went to my first 'grown up' party last night with a group of friends and yeah, it sorta inspired me to write this story. i've been wanting to write an au fic for a long time so im really excited for you guys to read it. anyway this story's going to be non-massacre so sasuke's family will be making an appearance shortly (this is also _one_ of the reasons that sasuke isn't sulky and depressing) a lot more will be explained with the course of the story, so keep reading.

gimme some love, leave a review? :)


	2. Chapter 2

disclaimer: disclaimed.

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june 3rd

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It took them a total of forty minutes to get home after the party which was pretty pathetic considering that Ino lived a whole ten minutes away from Nartuo's house.

Maybe if Ino hadn't drank her entire weight in alcohol they would've been home in fifteen but Ino never knew when to stop, never knew her own limits. She _always_ drank way too much and Sakura was the only one brave enough to deal with her when she was wasted.

The whole walk home, Ino stumbled in her studded heels; she almost fell flat on her ass three different times. It even got to the point where Ino just slumped down in the middle of the pavement, an over exaggerated groan fled her red lips, "Carry me." She said curtly, her sky blue eyes set on Sakura's annoyed face.

"No fucking way." Sakura had retorted but in the end she really had no choice. Ino gave her the kind of evil smile that could melt the hearts of a thousand men and climbed onto her best friends back.

"Hey, Sakura." Ino mumbled right next to her ear.

Sakura had sighed with each step; Ino weighed more than she wanted everyone to believe, "What now?"

"Just 'cause I'm drunk doesn't mean I'll forget about you and Sasuke, you'd better tell me everything in the morning."

"There's nothing to tell, Pig."

Ino snorted, a drunken laugh pushed past her lips, "God, you're such a shitty liar."

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"My fucking head hurts." Ino grumbled under her breath the next morning, pressing her long fingers against her temples. She was sprawled out in her bed, still in the same skin tight dress from the night before.

"Yeah, well my back hurts." Sakura sighed from the other side of Ino's bedroom, a brush in her hand. She'd already been up for an hour, sipped on coffee the whole time as she waited for her best friend to wake up.

"Where's the aspirin?" came Ino's sluggish reply.

"You took what was left of the bottle, last weekend, remember?" Sakura said absently, running the brush through her soft hair.

Ino pushed her face into her pillow; the black and red streaks of her makeup smeared across the pillowcase, "Please," Her voice was muffled, "If you love me, go buy me some more."

Sakura rolled her green eyes to the ceiling, "No." She replied firmly, "I already had to carry your fat ass on my back last night. I've endured enough."

"Forehead, _please_. I'll do anything."

Sakura smiled wickedly, "Fine, give me the black purse Hinata gave you last year."

Ino rose from the pillow swiftly, her eyes widened with pure horror, "Sakura, no. It's my favorite."

With a smirk, Sakura shrugged her shoulders indifferently, "No purse, no aspirin. Pick one Pig and don't think too hard, I don't want you to strain yourself."

Ino scoffed bitterly as the pain of her migraine echoed through her temples, "You're one cold-hearted bitch." She slumped back into the softness of her sheets, defeated and too tired to even put up a fight, "Fine take the goddamn purse, just bring me some aspirin."

And with that, Sakura left Ino's house, a smile of victory laced on her lips. Best friends weren't supposed to extort each other but, hey, she'd wanted that purse from the very moment Hinata handed it over to Ino. Besides, she _deserved_ it after having to carry that giant on her back last night.

As soon as she stepped outside, the warm summer air kissed at her bare skin and blew through her hair, tangling the pink strands together. She was only mere minutes away from the village's local drugstore; thankfully Ino didn't live far from it.

As she neared the store's entrance an older man sitting cross legged came into her view. A radio rested in his lap and a deep voice poured from its speakers. The words that spilled out shocked her; she stood still letting them fill her ears.

"Civilian's brace yourselves, war is upon us!" The radio host's voice grew louder, "The land of Fire's feud with The land of Sound is never ending! There's no time to waste, say goodbye to your men! The draft is coming! War is upon us!" The voice started to fade as the old man turned down the volume.

Panic flared in her stomach, _War in our village? That's impossible; we haven't had a war in hundreds of years._

The old man stared up at Sakura, looked at her wide green eyes and parted lips, offering her a warm smile, "Don't worry little girl," She had never heard a voice so raspy before, "There won't be any more wars in our village, it's all talk."

_He's right_ Sakura thought as she gave the old man a polite smile. She pushed open the store's heavy door and walked straight to the shelf that was stacked high with aspirin bottles,_ There won't be a war and there certainly won't be draft._

The shrill sound of the bells on the entrance door rang as someone else stepped into the store. Sakura grabbed a bottle of aspirin off the shelf and fast walked to the cash register. She could hear the faint sound of footsteps, she could feel the presence of someone behind her.

"Well if it isn't Sakura Haruno."

_Oh God_ she thought because she'd know that voice anywhere. It was too deep, too smooth to belong to anyone other than Sasuke Uchiha.

She looked at him over her shoulder, green eyes caught on his pale face, "Are you stalking me?"

A smirk pulled at his lips, "Not at all, sweetheart." He walked over to the coffee machine that stood next to the cash register, "I'm just getting some coffee."

"Oh." Sakura said as she grabbed the aspirin from the cashier.

Sasuke smiled at her, "You know, my offer from last night still stands." His dark eyes gazed at her lips, "I still want to take you out."

"Well, my answer's still the same." But with the way he was staring at her, she thought, maybe, just maybe she might change her mind.

_Sakura, don't even think about it._

Sasuke Uchiha was skilled in the art of persuasion, with a single glance, with a simple word; he could make _any_ girl start to drool. Oh crap, she wasn't drooling was she?

No, not yet, which meant she hadn't lost.

Sakura knew that this whole thing was a game to him. He thought he was going to win, she could see it in his eyes, she felt it in the way he moved closer and closer to her. Too bad for him, Sakura Haruno was never the type to lose.

"I'll change your mind." He said, that stupid smile was still on his lips, "Naruto's throwing another party tomorrow night, just come and leave the rest to me."

_What a cocky son of a bitch._

Sakura shook her head at him, "You're unbelievable." Laughter scratched at the back of her throat and she didn't dare look back at him when she walked out of the store.

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"Wait a minute," Ino said, her blue eyes widened, "So you're telling me that Sasuke Uchiha has been asking you out since last night and you keep turning him down?"

"Yeah." Sakura replied flatly.

The moment Sakura walked into Ino's bedroom, she knew something was different. Maybe it was best friend's intuition, either way; Ino forced her to spill her guts and oh man, she was fired up now.

Ino's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head, "Are you fucking crazy?" She sprang up from her bed, her lips curled over her teeth as she smiled, "Sakura, we're going to that party tomorrow and you, my dear, are going to _go out_ with Sasuke!"

Ino was jumping up and down, way too excited for her own good, "Holy shit, Sakura! You're finally going to _interact_ with the opposite sex!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and buried her face into her hands, "Ino, you know how I feel about guys like Sasuke."

Ino's face softened immediately, her shoulders slumped as she stared down at her best friend, "Sakura," She begun gently, "Not every guy is like your dad."

"Yeah, I know, but—"

"Nope, no buts," Ino told her and the blue of her eyes seemed to brighten, "We're going to that party, just give him a chance."

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><p>june 4th<p>

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The house shook with the bass of the music, the stereo was turned up louder than it had ever been. It was Naruto's way of inviting the whole village to his party, his way of teasing the police. The beat of the music bounced off the walls, curled through the town and welcomed Sakura in as she stood in the doorway.

Ino was beside her, a cigarette dangling from her freshly painted lips, "C'mon, let's go." She gestured into the house and stepped in front of Sakura, leading the way in her three inch heels. Ino swayed her hips, walked into the party like she owned it.

Sakura followed closely behind her, pale green eyes searched the crowd of people for a familiar face. She wanted to see him before he saw her, he was always surprising her and showing up out of nowhere. Besides, she didn't want that bastard thinking she came to the party specifically for _him_. That was like adding fuel to the fire and she wasn't about to feed a growing flame.

"Shikamaru!" Ino shouted as soon as she spotted her boyfriend. With her free hand, she grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her through the sea of people, bumping into them as they passed. As soon as Ino was mere inches away from her boyfriend, she loosened her grip around Sakura's wrist and latched onto Shikamaru, pressing her lips onto his cheek tenderly.

"Babe, where's Sasuke?" Ino asked, winking evilly at Sakura, an eager smile shined on her mouth.

"I'm pretty sure he's in the kitchen but—"

Ino laced her fingers into Sakura's, interrupting Shikamaru as he spoke, "Alright, let's go find him."

Shikamaru sighed, "Ino, wait—"

But Ino was never one to listen, never one to stop once she'd started. Ino dragged her across the crowded room and that's when the sudden pinch of regret poked at her skin. She shouldn't of come to the party, seeing Sasuke was a bad idea. It didn't matter though because Ino's grip was too damn strong to shake loose, so she shuffled her feet on the carpet, towards the kitchen. The thought of seeing Sasuke again made her stomach churn. His voice echoed through her thoughts,_ I still want to take you out_.

Well this wasn't turning out like she wanted.

"What are you waiting for?" Ino asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. They stood in front of the small kitchen, a group of girls crowded in the middle of it, beer bottles in their hands, "Sasuke's right there." She said pointing to the tall figure that the girls surrounded. Ino smiled, yelled _good luck _and left to find her boyfriend.

Sakura rolled her green eyes at him and his group of followers. There was no way Sasuke Uchiha was _that _popular.

And it took three seconds (yeah, she counted) for Sasuke to look up and stare straight at her. His dark eyes widened like two black holes and he held her gaze like he was trying to suck her in. A smile tugged on the corners of his mouth as he pushed passed the group of girls and sauntered his way over.

With the blink of an eye Sasuke stood in front of her, tall and handsome, a total cliché.

"Sakura," He said, leaning his head towards her ear, "I didn't think you'd actually come."

_Yeah, me neither _she thought.

Sasuke inched closer, his mouth a breath away from her ear, "I'm glad you did though." His voice ran shivers down her side, a light blush stained her cheeks and she hoped to God he couldn't see it.

"I think I should go home." Sakura blurted out before he could say anything else. Yeah, she definitely needed to go home before he decided to get closer and make her blush stupidly _again. _

"Alright," He replied and she could hear the smile in his voice, "I'll walk you."

She froze in place, green eyes widened at him, "No, that's okay."

"I insist."

"I don't." She retorted flatly.

But he did anyway. Sasuke Uchiha was never one to follow the rules or you know, respect people's personal space. Sakura was already halfway down the street and Sasuke was right behind her, almost stepping on the back of her shoes.

"Stop following me."

His laughter filled her ears, "I'm not following you," he replied, "I'm going home too, I live in the same direction which is why I insisted on walking you home."

Sakura brushed her hair out of her face, "Bullshit."

"It's not," He walked faster, their shoulders brushed as he matched her stride and she pretended not to notice, "Besides, a pretty girl shouldn't walk alone in the middle of the night."

_Sasuke_ was smooth, she'd give him that.

"I bet you've said that to just about _every_ girl in this village." Sakura scoffed, her green eyes focused on her feet.

He shook his head, dark strands of hair fell in front of his eyes, "Nope, just you." and she could hear him take a deep breath beside her, "I'm not the kind of guy you think I am."

Sakura stared at him, a twinge of regret in her expression and thought for a second that _maybe_ there was a slight chance he was different than what the rumors made him out to be.

Silence hung in the air after he said that. She couldn't think of a witty reply so she just shut up, kept walking one foot in front of the other and started counting the number of steps they took.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…

They passed the drugstore they'd talked in the day before. Sakura thought of the old man and his radio, how the speakers blared with the talk of war.

"Do you think war will break out?" She asked Sasuke suddenly, breaking the silence between them.

He turned his head slightly, watched her from the corner of his eye, probably shocked by her impulsive question, "Why do you ask?"

Sakura felt her cheeks flush, "Yesterday, on the radio, a man said that the Land of Sound was going to wage war on us and that there would be a draft."

Sasuke smiled at her, nudged her shoulder gently, "Nah, I doubt there'll be any war. The Land of Sound likes to talk a lot of shit but they never do anything about it." He looked down at her, "Besides, even if they started a war, we'd end it pretty fast."

The warmth of reassurance swelled in her stomach and it was then that Sakura realized how _safe_ she felt with him.

"You aren't scared of getting drafted?" she asked, green eyes lit with curiosity

He shook his head, "I'm seventeen. I'm safe from the draft for a while."

_I didn't know he was seventeen_ Sakura thought as she stared up at his handsome face. She'd always thought he was older than her because he carried himself like he was.

A sigh escaped her lips when they reached her house. Sakura hoped that her mom was asleep and that her dad wasn't home, (he probably wasn't, he never was).The last thing she needed was to hear them arguing. Besides, she had a lot of other things to think about tonight. Sasuke Uchiha was one of them even if she was reluctant to admit it.

Silence hung over them once more as she walked up the stairs to her porch, "Thanks for walking me home." Sakura mumbled quietly, just loud enough for him to hear. Even though she hadn't asked him to, the gesture was nice and maybe, just maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought.

"No problem, sweetheart." and he smiled, his teeth were white, shining like snow.

And it made her heart quicken in her chest.

_Shit. _she thought because her heart should not race over something as trivial as Sasuke Uchiha's smile. Sakura sucked in her breath, felt it sit in her lungs, "Goodnight."

"Night, Sakura."

And with that she turned to quietly open the front door; she had one foot in the doorway before the sound of Sasuke's voice echoed around her.

"By the way," He called smoothly, "This counts as a date, right?"

She narrowed her eyebrows at him, felt herself _almost _smile, "Hardly."

His laughter filled the quiet air once and it was a nice sound, she had to admit that.

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><p><strong>an:** YOU GUYS THIS SHIP IS CANON. HOLY SHIT. my life is made. ive still got a shitload of story ideas for this ship, so hopefully you guys stick around for them. now if you'll excuse me im gonna go cry over some sasusaku fanart.


	3. Chapter 3

disclaimer: disclaimed

june 7th

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Sakura woke to the blaring persistence of her alarm clock; she slammed her palm on the snooze button, green eyes still half-closed from the allure of sleep. The sky outside was still that dark, dull shade of blue-black that only came in the early morning.

She stumbled out of bed, clad in only the warmth of a t-shirt, rubbing at her eyes in attempt to wake up. The floorboards creaked under her feet; it was the only noise in the whole house. Her mother was still fast asleep, wrapped in the warm of her sheets and of course, her father wasn't home, he _hadn't_ been for the past couple of days.

_Good_ Sakura thought as she tip-toed into the kitchen, _I hope he never comes back._ And maybe that was a harsh thing to think, she was his _only_ daughter after all. But what did he expect? He'd had an affair with a woman ten years younger than her mother. He'd lied through his teeth and didn't give a damn once they'd found out about it.

The last time her father had come home was about a week ago, he'd come for his clothes and his stash of cigars; everything else was left in its usual place. When Sakura had tried to throw the rest of his things away, her mother screamed at her, yelled that her father would be back, that he still loved and cared for them.

_What a foolish woman_ Sakura thought as she turned on the coffee machine, _I'll never be like that. _It was a silent promise she'd made to herself long ago and it was one she intended to keep. It was the exact reason she was wary of boys like Sasuke Uchiha, who'd confessed that he liked her literally out of _nowhere_. They'd hardly spoken before that party, how was he so sure he liked her?

_I'm not the kind of guy you think I am._ His voice flooded her mind, interrupting her thoughts. She suddenly remembered a few nights before, how they walked side by side, his shoulder brushing hers softly. His voice always felt warm in her ears and his smile made her heartbeat quicken, which Sakura regarded as the most cliché thing to ever happen her.

Maybe, Sasuke Uchiha _was_ different.

Sakura filled her favorite mug halfway with steaming black coffee, stirred in creamer, sugar and made it as sweet as possible. In all honesty, she'd probably end up making herself a second cup. It would be a long, long day at the hospital so she was going to _need_ that second cup.

This would only be her fourth time volunteering at the hospital but she felt like it was her tenth. Tsunade, her teacher and most renowned doctor in _all_ of the country, had said that she needed more hands-on experience in order to become a great doctor. That was Sakura's goal of course; she wanted to be an even greater doctor than her teacher.

So that's how she ended up drinking two cups of coffee every morning she had to go to the hospital. It was tiring but she reveled in it. This was exactly what she wanted to do; help and nurture people.

Sakura gulped down the rest of her coffee, cleared her thoughts of Sasuke Uchiha, of her unfaithful father and rushed to throw on her hospital scrubs. It would be a long day but she was more than prepared.

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The sky's dark blue-black was beginning to lighten with pinkish-orange streaks as Sakura entered the hospital. She breathed in deeply, the hospital smelled like it usually did, cool and crisp and sterile. The whole building shined, it was the cleanest hospital she'd ever been in but that was expected of Tsuande.

Shizune, Tsunade's most trusted assistant, greeted her at the doors. A tired smile hung on her lips and Sakura knew she'd been here all night without even an ounce of sleep, "Morning, Sakura."

Sakura's shoes tapped loudly on the linoleum floors as she walked towards Shizune, the sound echoed through the whole lobby, "Morning, Shizune." A sympathetic smile crept onto her lips, "Long night?"

Shizune nodded and exhaled loudly through her nose, "Kyo was throwing up all night," she brushed her dark hair behind her ears, "I must've changed his sheets four times, he kept missing the bowl."

"I'll make sure to keep checking on him." Sakura said as she put her hand on Shizune's shoulder, a small offer of comfort that rarely ever did a thing to console someone.

Shizune always got attached to the younger patients, the ones too young to understand their own sicknesses. Kyo, a nine year old boy, wasn't an exception. He'd been diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was only seven and even after _multiple_ surgeries, they couldn't remove the tumor entirely without the chance of paralyzing him. So, Shizune stayed with him every night, her hand rubbing his back as he puked and squirmed in pain.

"Alright, well I should go home and rest." Shizune sighed, her voice sounded strained, too tired and too old for a woman as young as she was. She turned on her heel and walked out of the too-clean hospital, her skinny shoulders slumped. It was no secret that death loomed in a hospital, every doctor, every patient knew it was inevitable but that, of course, didn't make it any easier.

Sakura sucked in her breath as she walked down the hospital's white corridors. The sunlight bled through the large windows, scattered rays of warmth fell on her face as she tip-toed into room 303. Kyo was fast asleep in his bed, his tiny mouth was halfway open and he snored lightly. She felt her heart swell because he was too young, too innocent to be trapped in the white, sterile walls of a hospital.

Her green eyes flickered to the watch on her wrist as she quietly walked away from Kyo's room. It was seven-thirty which meant Tsunade was mostly likely in her office, complaining about the lack of coffee in her hand. Since Shizune was gone, it was Sakura's responsibility to be her teacher's coffee girl.

_Damn woman, why can't she get her own coffee? _ She thought as she pushed through the cafeteria doors.

A few other nurses sat at one of the tables, coffee mugs in their hands. They were a couple years older than Sakura which meant they didn't bother to talk to her. She could care less though; she wasn't there to socialize anyway. As Sakura walked past the table she could hear snippets of their conversation.

"…And he said the Land of Sound was planning to wage war on Konoha." Sakura's eyes widened with shock as they flickered quickly to the woman who'd just spoken. It seemed Sakura wasn't the only one who'd heard about the Land of Sound's plan.

Her mind flashed back to a few nights before, to Sasuke and his reassuring smile, _Nah I doubt there'll be any war._

She walked past the nurses, disinterested in the rest of their conversation. Tsunade wanted coffee and she was a hell of an impatient woman, one that Sakura did _not_ want to piss off. So she grabbed her teacher's coffee and practically sprinted up the stairs to her office.

Sakura knocked loudly on the double doors, "Tsunade, I have your coffee!" she shouted. Tsunade's muffled voice yelled something like, 'come in' so Sakura pushed through the office doors, strands of pink hair fell from her sloppy ponytail.

"Sakura, you're late." Tsunade's voice boomed clamorously, her arms were crossed over her breasts.

Sakura sat the coffee on her teacher's desk and brushed her pink hair out of her face with a sigh, "Sorry."

Tsunade rolled her honey eyes, taking a sip of the coffee Sakura had _carefully_ made, "Sakura," she began and her nose wrinkled as she swallowed the coffee, "It's cold. I want a new one." Sakura felt her whole body slump; it was going to be a _long_ day.

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When the clock struck six, Sakura had almost jumped for joy. She'd sprinted through the entire hospital a whopping four times on her teacher's orders; being Tsunade's errand girl was _not_ an easy thing to do.

And what's even worse was that her shoulders ached, burned liked hell for the majority of the day. The only thing she wanted to do was fall into the warmth of her sheets and sleep for hours. This was the only thought in her head as she pushed through her front door.

"Sakura, you're home." The sound of her mother's voice flooded her blissful thoughts of sleep.

Sakura nodded awkwardly, she wasn't expecting her mother to be home, "Yeah." It was all she could say, all she could muster up because they hardly talked anymore and it was so _uncomfortable_.

"Are you hungry?" Her mother asked sweetly and there was a tired smile on her face.

"Not really." Sakura responded walking past her mother, "I'm just going to go take nap." She fast walked up the stairs before the conversation could carry on any further.

Sakura couldn't help but feel guilty as she collapsed into the softness of her mattress. She was being colder than usual to her mother, who for the most part, hadn't done anything wrong. With her face pushed into her pillow, she groaned loudly. Sakura was tired, physically and mentally, all she wanted was to sleep.

So she did; slowly and quietly she felt her conscious slipping until finally, she fell asleep.

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"Sakura! Wake up!"

Sakura's green eyes fluttered open; someone was tugging roughly on her wrist, pulling so hard she thought she heard muscle tear.

"Sakura!" The scream came again; shrill like a knife was carving into her eardrum and it only took a second before she realized it was her mother who yelling and tugging. Sirens blared louder than her mother's scream, all through their house, through the village.

The panic pulled on her mother's face and it made Sakura's heart pound violently in her chest. She didn't have the chance to ask what the _hell _was going on, her mother dug her nails around her wrist and dragged her down the staircase, out of the house.

The sirens shrill wail grew louder as they ran out onto the crowded streets. Villagers sprinted on the roads, pushing past each other with panic stricken faces.

"Sakura, we need to go now!" Her mother screamed in her ear and it rang, vibrated through her whole body.

_What the fuck is going on?_ Her mother dragged her into the crowd of villagers and people pushed past them, knocking shoulders without a shred of remorse. Their eyes stared straight ahead, in the direction of the old underground bomb shelter that hadn't been used since the last war about hundred years ago.

It all happened all so fast, the sirens were blaring, her mother was tugging on her wrist, pulling her through a sea of people and in mere seconds someone jerked into her, knocked the wind out of her as she fell _hard_ on the ground. The grip of her mother's fingers loosened on her wrist, "Sakura!" It was the shrillest, most desperate scream she'd ever heard and it shook her, scared her down to the bone.

People pushed and shoved into her mother until she disappeared into the crowd of panicked villagers, "Mom!" She screamed as she got up from the ground. Her heart was beating roughly against her ribs, she was sure it would burst.

"Move, girl!" A man yelled behind her, his palm crashed into her back but she didn't feel it, she _couldn't_. The fear and panic that bounced in her stomach made her whole body feel numb. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think a damn thought.

The panic swirled through mind, fear bounced off her nerves and then suddenly, softly, someone curled their fingers into hers. The chaos around her quieted; all that mattered was this person and the warmth of their hand tangled in hers. Sakura looked up; the darkest eyes she'd ever seen stared back at her.

_Sasuke Uchiha._

"Sasuke, move faster." A man that bared a remarkable resemblance to Sasuke spoke sternly.

Sasuke nodded at the man, "I'm trying, Itachi." His grip around her fingers tightened as he turned his head slightly to face her, "Don't let go of my hand." The sound of his voice was smooth, stern like the man in front of them.

Sakura felt herself nod, she gripped onto Sasuke's hand, clung onto him like her life depended on it and for all she knew, it _did. _

People shoved past them like they didn't even exist but Sasuke held onto her, supported her weight every time she faltered.

Sakura didn't even realize that they'd made it inside the bomb shelter until Sasuke lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, "We made it, don't worry."

The bomb shelter was crowded, people were shoulder to shoulder and they were all talking at once, a loud panicked buzz. The shelter was dimly lit by a few candles that lined the walls; someone must have brought a lighter.

Sasuke was still holding her hand as he pulled her to sit near a corner, somewhat away from the rest of the panicked people, "Sasuke," She said his name softly, "I don't understand…" her voice trailed off as her green eyes scanned the bomb shelter.

Sasuke sat beside her, his shoulder brushed against hers and he let it rest there, "The Land of Sound is bombing our village." The warmth of his hand was still wrapped around hers and she didn't want him to let go.

"T-They're bombing Konoha?" Sakura stuttered and panic flared in the pit of her stomach again. Her face was probably twisted into some kind of fearful expression. Sasuke stared at her; his dark eyes gazed into hers, almost hypnotic.

He squeezed onto her hand, "Don't worry, I'm sure we're fighting back…" The bomb shelter shook violently; the candle light flickered and then slowly dimmed out, leaving darkness to surround them.

"Oh God," She whispered as the shelter shook and shook, "Sasuke." She said his name under her breath and clung to his entire arm, resting her forehead lightly on his shoulder. She was surprised by her own actions, how her body moved faster than her mind did, "I-I'm so scared." But that's what fear could do to a person

"It'll be alright," He told her gently, "You know that, don't you?" And she could hear his voice tremble under his breath. Sasuke Uchiha got scared too, he was human after all.

Sakura quickly nodded her head and even though she knew he was just lying to comfort her, she found herself believing him.

And so they stayed like that for a while, just holding onto each other, hearts beating in sync as the shelter shook around them.

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"Sasuke…" The stern voice of Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, knocked some sense into them both. Sakura lifted her forehead from Sasuke's shoulder and watched as Itachi turned away from their embrace, it was dim but she could swear there was light blush on his cheeks, "It's over."

Sasuke cleared his throat awkwardly, "Right, I'll see you out there then." Itachi nodded and turned swiftly, disappearing into the crowd of villagers.

Sasuke's dark eyes flickered to Sakura, a deep blush spread across her cheeks, "Uhm…thank you," Sakura blurted out, "For helping me out there and for…calming me down earlier."

He took a step closer, his eyes never left her face, "You don't have to thank me," He said softly, "I did it because I like you." A sigh pushed past his lips, "I know you're against me for some reason but I like you, a lot."

The blush on her cheeks grew hotter and it burned red down her neck, "I'm not against you." She breathed leveling her eyes with his. It was all so confusing, how this boy she _barely_ knew confessed that he liked her. She wanted to know the exact reason he suddenly became so interested in her, why he suddenly decided to pursue her. She wanted to know all of it, all about who Sasuke Uchiha really was, what he _really_ wanted.

"Then let me take you out on a date."

Sakura stared at him, green eyes still locked on the landscape of his face. Should she say yes to Konoha's most notorious playboy? Sure, he'd rescued her from a crowd of panicked people and now it was safe to say he was a _friend_, (one she'd clung onto out of utter fear moments before) but was she willing to overlook the fact that he'd kissed every girl in their senior class?

_I'm not the kind of guy you think I am_. Maybe he wasn't, she felt safe with him by her side, after all.

"Okay." Sakura agreed, "One date."

She wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the whole thing was, for goodness sake, their village was just _bombed _yet here they were, in an underground shelter, planning a date that she'd never in a million years think she would agree to.

Sasuke flashed a smile and walked with her, side by side, out of the shelter, into their broken village.

War had begun but they acted like they didn't notice.

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><p><strong>an:** reviews are appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

disclaimer: disclaimed.

june 8th

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Sakura's shoes clicked on the shiny hospital floors; she could see her reflection clearly in the tiles. A loose ponytail hung at the base of her neck, wisps of pink hair crowned her face and purplish dark shadows rested under her eyes. _Great_ She thought as she walked towards Tsunade's office, _I look like complete shit. _

Not only did she look like shit, she _felt_ like shit. Sakura had been running back and forth through the hospital, tending to patients after the village was bombed less twenty-four hours ago.

The sirens had gone off last night and it had sent all the villagers into panic, pushing and shoving each other out of the way to get to the bomb shelter. Most of the patients suffered minor cuts and scrapes, nothing that she couldn't take care of in a matter of minutes. Besides, cuts and scrapes are far better than what she'd originally imagined.

The village wasn't in shambles like she thought it would be either. The Land of Sound dropped a total two bombs on their village, one near the housing sector and the other just barely on the Academy. Immediately after it was all over the village council went into meeting and they hadn't made an appearance since then.

_They better make an announcement soon_ Sakura thought as she drummed her knuckles on the office doors. Even if the bombing was over, the village was still in a silent panic about whether or not the Land of Sound would do it again. Sakura shook the thought out of her head; she had to focus on her work at the hospital before anything else.

"Come in, Sakura." Tsunade's voice boomed through the thick walls and Sakura pushed through the doors, into her teacher's office, "What do you have to report?"

"I've bandaged about twenty patients," Sakura said confidently, "They all filled out the release forms and are all home by now." She could see the dark circles shadowing her teacher's honey-brown eyes; everyone had been up the whole night, tending to patients without even an ounce of sleep.

A faint, tired smile pulled on the corners of Tsunade's mouth, "Well done," She cleared her throat as she sat down in front of a stack of paperwork, "Now go home and get some sleep, we'll need you back here tomorrow."

Sakura nodded happily, "Yes, ma'am."

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><p>june 11th<p>

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It had been four days since the bombing of their village and two days since the village council decided to send the Land of Sound a cease-fire. It was the best the village could do to stop any kind of war from igniting. The villagers, of course, disliked this announcement; they all thought it would be better to go to war, that their men should go out and fight to the death, they didn't understand the importance of peace. Now, all they had to do was wait for the Land of Sound's response.

Sakura sat in the cafeteria; green eyes flickered at the hanging clock above the food line. It was her lunch break and she had an hour to sit in silence, sipping at a bowl of soup and skimming through a medical book she'd _borrowed_ from Tsunade's office. Okay, so maybe she'd taken it without permission but how else was she going to study? There was no way she could afford books like _this._

She'd been too busy reading about the regeneration of cells in the human body to notice the presence of someone behind her. It wasn't until their warm hand curled on her shoulder that she turned around, "Sakura," Shizune said, standing next to her, "There's a guy outside looking for you."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, "A guy? Wait, who?"

Shizune nodded, a sly smile on her face, "He said he was your boyfriend," Her smile grew wider, "What the hell, Sakura? You didn't tell me, you had a boyfriend."

Sakura rolled her green eyes and her whole body sighed as the realization hit. She already knew it was Sasuke Uchiha outside those hospital doors, lying through his perfect teeth, that he was her boyfriend, "That's because I don't," Sakura said getting up from the cafeteria table, "I agreed to _one _date and now he thinks we're together."

He kept finding her and pestering her about the date she agreed to the night of the bombing. She'd decided to give him a chance but seriously, who had time to go on date? Sakura was way too busy at the hospital and Sasuke was busy working with his father on repairing the village.

Shizune laughed, light and feminine, "Just go see the poor boy, he's been waiting for you."

Sakura sighed, "Yeah, I'm going."

And with that she fast-walked out of the cafeteria into the busy lobby, green eyes flickering back and forth looking for Sasuke's dark hair.

She felt shivers crawl down her spine when she finally saw him because _whoa_, Sasuke Uchiha really _was_ handsome, it was almost shocking. He stood stag near the glass entrance doors, a lit cigarette dangled from his lips as he waited for her.

Sakura pushed through the doors, his dark eyes flickered up to her face and he smiled that movie star smile, the cigarette still in between his lips, "Sakura." He muffled her name, taking a couple steps closer to her.

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, "Is there something you need? I'm kind of busy right now." Her green eyes focused on the cigarette between his lips, she watched the smoke curl from the end of it. Sasuke was _always_ smoking; every time she saw he had his pale lips wrapped around the cig filter and every time he walked by her, he smelled faintly of the smoke.

With two long fingers, he took the cigarette from his smiling mouth and chuckled smoothly, "Then, I guess I'll make this quick, sweetheart." The smell of smoke filled her nose, it was warm and musky; it curled around them, clung to the strands of her hair, "Are you free tonight?"

"Probably," She responded, staring at his pale face; there was a faint smirk on his lips and he stepped even closer, a breath away from touching her. Sasuke Uchiha had _no_ concept of personal space. He flashed a smile, pale lips curled slightly over his too-white teeth, (he smoked like crazy, how the hell were they so white anyway?).

"Then let's go on that date tonight."

"Fine," Sakura agreed with a somewhat of a smile on her pinkish lips, "Pick me up at eight." She turned on her heel, took half a step before his fingers wrapped around her wrist.

"I'll pick you up at seven." He retorted evenly and the smirk grew on his lips, "There's something I want you to see." The light pressure of his fingers on her wrist felt singed like a flame.

Her green eyes flickered with curiosity, "What is it?"

Sasuke pulled his hand away from her wrist, put the cigarette in between his lips again and inhaled deeply, "You'll see," The white smoke curled out from the inside of his mouth, "Besides, I thought you were busy right now?" He raised a dark eyebrow at her and she thought that stupid smirk must've been stitched to his mouth because it _never_ disappeared.

Sakura scoffed at him, "I _am_ busy." She gave him a sarcastic wave and started to open the hospital's entrance doors when he laughed. The sound of boomed through the summer air, much like the first night he _stalked_ her out of Naruto's party.

"I'll see you tonight, sweetheart." He half-yelled to her, that _stupid_ smile on his lips. She rolled her eyes and couldn't help but mirror his smile as she sauntered back into the hospital.

A small group of her fellow nurses stood at the doors, practically crowding her when as she stepped through the doors.

"Sakura, is that your boyfriend?" One of them asked shrilly.

Sakura wanted to sneer in their faces; every other day they were too good for her but the day when a handsome boy comes to visit her, they're suddenly her best friends. They were honestly only interested in the gossip, they thrived on it.

_How pathetic_ she thought as she tried to push past them. "He's so hot, how'd you snag a guy like that?" Another one of them squeaked.

"He's not my boyfriend." Sakura said flatly, still fast-walking away.

There was a laugh, bitter and sarcastic, "Oh, bullshit. I saw the way he acted with you." The tallest nurse sped up her pace to walk in sync with Sakura, "What is he then, if he's not your boyfriend?" She stopped in her tracks, crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Sakura, an eyebrow raised.

Sakura wanted to roll her green eyes to the ceiling and tell the woman to mind her own damn business but instead she just shrugged her shoulders and kept walking, "He's… my friend, I guess." She wanted to laugh; Sasuke Uchiha, her friend? It felt odd to say but weirdly enough it was true. They _were_ friends, especially after that night they spent in the bomb shelter.

Sakura didn't look back at that annoying woman; she just kept walking until the woman spoke again, loud enough for her to hear, "Friend, my ass. Friends don't look at each other like _that."_

A smirk pulled on her pink lips, the kind that Sasuke always flashed at her and she knew that she'd probably be counting the minutes down until seven.

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"What about this dark red?" Ino asked as she sat on top of Sakura's wooden dresser. Her blonde best friend held up the red lipstick tube, a hopeful smile on her face.

Sakura looked up from the mirror, scrunched her nose at the lipstick, "Nah, too slutty looking."

Ino gasped, hopping off the dresser to lightly pull on Sakura's short hair, "Hey asshole, this is the lipstick I always wear."

Sakura laughed, "Exactly, too slutty." She ran her fingers through the choppiness of her hair, "Now help me do something with this mess." There wasn't much time before the clock struck seven and she'd only gotten home from the hospital thirty minutes ago. As soon as she walked into her house she had called Ino to come over and well, _fix_ her appearance.

"There isn't a lot we can do," Ino said grabbing a handful of her friend's soft, pink hair, "Just leave it down, it doesn't look so bad. Besides it's not like you're trying to impress him anyway." Even if Sakura wasn't trying to _impress_ him, it was still the very first date she'd ever went on, so yeah, she wanted to look nice.

"Well, I still want to look pretty." Sakura said staring at herself in the mirror. From the corner of her eye she could see Ino smiling, "What?" She asked turning around to face her blonde friend.

Ino shrugged innocently, that wicked smile still on her red lips, "Oh nothing. It just seems like you're getting awfully excited for this date."

Sakura's cheeks flushed with warmth, "Not really." She turned her attention back to the mirror, "If he takes me someplace nice, I don't want to look like a slob."

The sound of Ino's annoying laughter, which was more like a cackle, echoed in through the small bedroom, "Sasuke Uchiha does _not_ take girls out to fancy places, my dear." She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, "According to all those rumors, he'll take you to that sleazy movie theatre and stick his hand down your pants when it gets dark." She sighed, "Sounds kind of fun actually."

It was yet another infamous rumor about Sasuke Uchiha, one that may not even be true, "He knows I'd kill him if took me somewhere like that." Sakura said with confidence.

"Yeah, I know." Ino's face softened as she spoke, that faint smile still on her mouth, "I'm glad you're giving him a chance though. I think it'll be good for you." She stretched her arms above her head, "Besides, I have a feeling most of those rumors are bullshit anyway."

Sakura stared at her best friend, the same girl that had told her a couple days ago to give Sasuke a chance. For whatever reason, Ino had this blind trust when it came to him. She'd spent about two hours telling Sakura that he wasn't like her 'cheating bastard of a father'. Ino didn't believe in any of the rumors about Sasuke either, mostly because someone was always spreading awful, untrue ones about her.

Before Sakura could open her mouth to say another word, the doorbell rang and echoed shrilly through the house.

Ino smiled widely, "He's here."

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"You're early." Sakura said as she swung open the front door.

Sasuke Uchiha stood in front of her; he was all dark hair and dark eyes, perfectly handsome in plain everyday clothes, "Nice to see you too, sweetheart." He smelled of that musky, smoke smell and without even really realizing it, she breathed it in. He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Sorry, I had to come a bit earlier. The thing I want to show you won't be around for much longer, so we've gotta hurry."

"Oh," She said, "Well, let's go then." Sakura gave a smile, walking past Sasuke, toward the black car that so obviously belonged to him. A mix of excitement and curiosity churned in her stomach, she wondered what he was so eager show her.

She opened the passenger door to the car, sliding into the leather seats and he followed closely behind her, getting into the driver's seat, "I'm surprised," He huffed, shoving the key into the ignition, "You seem pretty pumped to spend the night with me."

Sakura smirked and with the roll of her green eyes she said, "Nah, the sooner the date starts the faster it ends."

His laughter filled her ears, throaty and charismatic, "You won't be saying that later," He said smoothly, "This'll be the best date of your life, sweetheart."

"You're way too cocky."

Sasuke smirked, pressed his foot down onto the gas with ease, "One of my many charms, huh?"

Sakura shook her head faintly, holding back the laughter that scratched at the back of her throat. She tilted her head, green eyes stared out the window and she noticed that Sasuke was a really great driver. His hands were smooth and steady on the wheel, his dark eyes locked on the road in front of him.

"Where exactly are we going for this date?" She asked turning her head to face him.

"To the mountain that overlooks the village." He replied, speeding up the car a little.

Sakura stared at him blankly, "Why?"

"You'll see."

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It took a solid twenty minutes to reach the very top of the mountain; the sky above them was still lit with sun's warmth and the summer air kissed their skin lightly. Sasuke grabbed her hand without warning and walked her through the short path that led to the edge of the mountain.

So far all they'd done was drive and walk; it was _not_ the best date. Sakura scrunched her nose suspiciously, there were tons of rumors about Sasuke taking his flings to old movie theatres and skating rinks, basically just tacky places, so why had he brought her up here?

"We're here," He said suddenly, his hand was still laced into hers as he looked up to the sky, "Looks like we made it just in time too." The sky was slowly turning that fiery orange-red color that stained it during a sunset. Her green eyes drifted down to the village; all the buildings and houses looked miniature from that high up.

The warm breeze blew through them, "It's beautiful." She blurted out and it really was. The sky bled red and orange, the sun started to fall behind the buildings.

"Yeah," Sasuke replied staring up at the sky, "Itachi, my brother, used to take me up here all the time when I was younger. He's too busy for it now." He tugged on her hand gently, pulling her down beside him to sit on the ground, "You're the only other person that's been up here."

The sun started to melt behind the buildings before it finally disappeared and the sky turned a dark blue. Sakura turned to look at him; the pale profile of his face was angular like a marble statue. She felt a blush spread across her cheeks, _thank god it's getting darker_ she thought because Sasuke Uchiha could _not_ see her blush.

"Why did you bring me?" She asked him suddenly.

He tilted his head, angling it to level his eyes with hers, "I want to prove to you that I'm serious about us."

The blush spread deeper across her cheeks, her face felt like it was on fire but she racked up her pride and turned her face away from his, "We literally started talking a couple weeks ago, you can't be serious about liking me."

"We've gone to the same school since kindergarten, sweetheart," He scoffed, "That party wasn't the first time I noticed you."

"Oh yeah," Sakura said, staring at him from the corner of her eye, "When then, was the first time you noticed me?"

Sasuke chuckled, caught in his memories, "Second grade. You stole my purple marker which, I'm still pretty pissed at," He cleared his throat, "You were on my hate list ever since then, second to Naruto, of course. Then again in fifth grade, we were paired together for a science project, I told you not to bother with it since you weren't as smart as me and then you screamed at me to, 'stop being so cocky' and to 'shove a rod up my ass'."

Sakura stared at him, mouth wide open in shock, "No, I never did any of that."

_That was Sasuke? _She remembered vaguely being paired with some little asshole for a project back in elementary school but she didn't remember that the pretentious little asshole was _Sasuke Uchiha_.

Sasuke nodded gravely, "You did and it scarred me." He sighed dramatically, looking at her evenly, "Then I noticed you again at that party, you were sticking half your body out of an open window. You looked ridiculous."

She raised an eyebrows at him, "Wait, so you like me because I stole your purple marker, told you to shove a rod up your ass and embarrassed myself at Naruto's party?"

Sasuke's laughter tore through the air, "You're just completely weird, you know that?" His fingers gripped tighter around hers, "There isn't a specific reason exactly; I just like you because I like you."

His voice wrapped around her and she felt how genuine his words were, it made her heart swell up. She couldn't move her lips to say anything; her mind went blank so she just sat there beside him and listened to the steady sound of his breathing.

"You can actually see the stars up here." He breathed, pointing his index finger to the dark sky.

Sakura's eyes followed the straight path of his finger, the stars scatter across the blue-black sky like glitter and it was one of the prettiest things she'd ever seen.

"Sasuke?" She called his name lowly.

"Yeah?"

She breathed in the warm summer air, felt it stir in her lungs, "Thank you for taking me here," She tore her eyes away from the sky to look at him, "It's really beautiful."

She saw him smile lightly, "You're welcome."

They fell silent, watching the stars sparkle brightly against the darkness of the wide sky. The soft pressure of his calloused fingertips tingled on her skin, "Sasuke?" She called his name again.

"Yeah?" He responded and his voice was smooth like velvet.

She felt herself smile, "I'm sorry I stole your purple marker." His laughter washed over her and for the first time, she felt something flutter in her stomach when she heard it.

.

.

.

They'd spent three hours up on that mountaintop, staring up at the stars, talking and laughing and teasing. He drove her home, let her touch the radio and turn the volume up so loud it shook the car. His hand was still warm around hers when he walked her up to her door.

_Holy shit, he's probably going to kiss me now, right?_ The thought of dizzied her a bit. Sure, she'd been kissed _once_ before (an awkward, sloppy kiss in which Kiba Inuzuka bumped his nose on hers) but this was different; Sasuke Uchiha was _different._

"Night, Sakura." He said softly and took his hand away from hers. _Here it comes, the kiss, he's going to kiss me. _

But he didn't. Instead he turned on his heel and sauntered back to his car, "Sakura," He called her name as he got into the driver's seat, "This isn't last time I'm taking you out."

Sakura nodded, still shocked that Konoha's most notorious playboy didn't kiss her, "Okay." Was all she could manage because seriously, _why_ didn't he kiss her? Even after he'd driven away and she'd sulked up to her room, she kept asking herself that question.

_Why didn't that bastard make a move at all? I was so ready for it…_ Oh God. Her green eyes widened, a pang of warmth flooded her stomach.

And it was then that Sakura Haruno realized that she liked Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

><p><strong>an:** so this chapter was a lot longer than expected, anyway hope you all enjoy.

reviews are appreciated!


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